The Aftermath of a Homecoming
by Readaholic1987
Summary: How would Sora adjust to being home again after over a year away? How would the people he left behind adjust to having him back? Spoilers for KH and KH2.


Disclaimer: I own nothing, really, I am a poor student. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Soft and Disney.

AN: So, I have a really bad track record with actually finishing things like this, but I do promise to try and finish. I have nearly 6 pages double-sided written on loose leaf, and with exams coming up I have a reason to procrastinate, then Christmas break, so we'll see. I'll try and update every few weeks or so, school, work, friends and inspiration depending.

This idea came to me when I was trying to stay awake in Research methods after an all-nighter, and my mind has just run with it.

Rated T because, hey, they're teenagers.

As of now, general spoilers for KH and KH2, but if you haven't played/seen both games, why are you here? Enjoy, and tell me what you think, _constructive_ criticism please….

Chapter 1

Sora was bored, daydreaming his way through his class by staring out the window at the ocean, winking temptingly at him in the sun. He found himself daydreaming through school most days now. He didn't know why, after being gone for so long on his adventures he'd expected to be so far behind his age-mates that he'd never catch up. Indeed, he'd been placed below all his previous classmates when he returned to school four months ago. However, he'd caught up very quickly-almost too quickly considering he'd been gone for well over a year—including the year he spent sleeping while Naminé stitched his memories back together.

Naminé. Thinking of her made him think of Roxas, a part of him and yet somehow not. While _Sora_ had no memories from when he was sleeping, he sometimes had strange flashes of memories that he knew did not belong to him. Sitting in a classroom that he knew he'd never seen waking, learning things that he was covering in his classes even now. Huh, maybe Roxas' memories of school were why he was so bored right now. While Sora was sleeping Roxas had been learning math and science, and when Roxas had become part of Sora his memories also became Sora's, at least on an unconscious level, which explained why everything in Twilight Town had seemed familiar in a hazy kind of way.

Sora snorted a bit, amused at his train of thought-and some people 'Riku' his mind supplied, thought he wasn't serious enough!

"Is something amusing about the equation on the board Sora?", his teacher's voice broke into his thoughts.

Sora looked up, startled, "huh?"

"I said, is the equation amusing?" The whole room had their eyes on him.

"No sir, sorry, I was just thinking" Sora replied, blushing a bit at being caught not paying attention. Maybe all the work was too easy, but that was no reason to disrupt class and draw even more unwanted attention to himself-he was sick of the attention.

"Well then," the teacher continued, "Since you have time to think you must be able to answer this for us."

Sora studied the equation, frowning a bit in concentration and quickly rattled off an answer, surprising his teacher.

"How were you able to do that Sora? I haven't finished explaining the process yet."

Drat, he'd done it again-now here came the questions.

"Uh, well…I was reading ahead last night you see and, uh…"

"Somehow I doubt that. Just two months ago you were barely keeping up with us and now you're far ahead of your classmates Sora…where were you last year?"

Sora made his face as blank as he could. "I really can't tell you that Sir."

"Can't or won't" came the quick reply.

"Both"

Sora's teacher was staring at him hard, as if by looking he could pry the truth out. Sora looked back as calmly as he could.

"Why not?"

"I have orders" was Sora's immediate reply.

"From who?"

Sora smiled wryly, " I can't tell you." The staring contest continued for another minute, Sora keeping his expression carefully neutral, not indicating how nervous he was. The teacher finally looked away and resumed the explanation that Sora's laugh had interrupted. Sora could feel the eyes of his classmates on him, but he just ignored them, resuming his previous occupation staring out the window, except now his thoughts were spiralling off in a new direction.

He was thinking back to the letter he, Riku and Kairi had received from the King not long after his return to the islands. That letter which urged them, especially him, to continue practicing his magic and combat skills in case he was ever needed again as the Keyblade bearer. The letter that also reminded them not to reveal the existence of other worlds except in absolutely dire need, Sora somehow doubted that a math teacher's probing questions were considered dire need.

It as the second set of orders that were the most difficult for Sora. After his return everyone had wanted to know just where he had been for so long, and Sora had not been able to tell them anything. It was slightly easier for Riku; he was so aloof that people did not bother him but for an occasional question. It was Sora who was inundated with a constant barrage of "Where could you have gone?"s and "You can tell me"s. It was really starting to get to him.

To take his mind off that painful subject Sora decided to use his time to practice a little magic. There were a few clouds hanging around, so he thought he could get away with a little lightning if he was careful. He saw that a particularly dark cloud was almost right over a small tree on the other side of the schoolyard. Perfect. He reached deep inside himself to his reservoir of magic, drawing out a small amount. Concentrating on the tree, he whispered the words of the spell to produce lightning and was pleased when there was an immediate small bolt of lightning with the accompanying rumble of thunder, which hit the crown of the tree, the lightning appearing to come from the dark cloud. He was doubly pleased when the tree did not catch fire-he had wanted to test his control this time. He knew in an actual battle he was not likely to ever use a bolt that small, but control was good, and he was pretty sure that if he poured his full strength into a spell he could do some pretty serious damage, not what he wanted to do at school. It had been a while though since he worked on his stronger spells, he should make some time on the weekend and go out to the island and practice some of his stronger spells.

The bell cut his musings short. 'Finally' he thought, end of the day. Sora quickly copied down the homework, gathered his things and left before his teacher could try and corner him again. After he stopped to get his books for his other homework, he strode through the crowded hallway as quickly as possible, suddenly in desperate need to feel the wind in his hair, the sun on his face. Exiting the school building he closed his eyes and breathed deep of the fresh air, a small smile playing on his lips. He ambled over to a rock jutting out of the ground and sat on it to enjoy the sun and breeze while waiting for Riku and Kairi, who always took longer to come outside. Being in a higher grade they always had more homework than him, and usually had more books to somehow pack into their bags before they could escape the building. He dropped his bag on the ground and leaned back on his elbows, closing his eyes once more.

"You lazy bum"

Sora smiled, "Hi Kairi" he said without opening his eyes.

"You are so lazy Sora, you're _always_ half asleep when I get out here."

"Well maybe if you weren't so slow I wouldn't be so lazy waiting for you." Opening his eyes he grinned up at her.

Riku came up to them from behind Kairi, "Hey guys, you ready to go?"

"I am" Sora replied, "I was just telling Kairi that you two are slooooow."

"Yeah, well. If you had the amount of homework we do you'd take more than ten seconds to get outside too you know. Some of us have to get books and things." Riku replied with a smirk.

"Aw, come on guys, you know I was only kidding. Besides, I think they're gonna move me back up soon, I already know everything they're trying to teach me" Sora replied.

As they started walking Riku asked, "Yeah Sora, how is it you know the material you missed while we were gone? I certainly am not having spurts of mathematical clairvoyance or whatever."

"Yeah Sora, how is that?" Kairi asked. The two of them looked at Sora curiously, both of them loosening their uniform ties as they walked.

Sora looked around to be sure no one else was in earshot, loosening his own tie and undoing his top two buttons. Seeing no one he answered "I think its Roxas."

"Roxas?" came the dual reply.

"Yeah. I have all these hazy memories of sitting in a classroom learning this stuff already-but it's not a classroom I've ever seen, and I don't recognize the teacher or most of the other students. I'm pretty sure they're Roxas' memories from Twilight Town. You know" he lowered his voice as a group of older students approached "when I was asleep getting my memories fixed from whatever was wrong with them." They all fell silent as the other students neared them, then turned onto a different street. When they were alone again Kairi spoke up, "I have a few memories like that too-they're of sitting in a white room, drawing. It's like I remember it, but somehow it wasn't me, they're not _my_ memories. They must be from Naminé."

"That's kinda creepy you two" Riku commented.

"Not really" Sora and Kairi chorused, then looked at each other, then laughed.

"It's not creepy Riku," Sora stated firmly. "It's just something to get used to, and if it means I get to move back up and be with you guys, who cares!?"

"Huh, I wish I had memories of school so I could move back up." Riku muttered to himself.

They reached a turnoff, Sora was to go one way, Riku and Kairi the other. "Hey guys, I'll meet you guys at the docks after we changed and drop off our stuff, alright?" Sora said over his shoulder as he headed towards his house. "We can row over to the island until dinner-time." He kept walking.

"But Sora!" Kairi called out after him, "didn't you see that lightning just before the bell rang? You had to have heard the thunder at least, there might be a storm coming!"

Sora stopped, looked up at the mostly clear sky and grinned, then turned back to them. "Naw!" he called back, there was no one around. "That was me practicing! See you in a little bit, don't keep me waiting again guys!" Sora waved over his shoulder and started walking again.

As he walked away he just heard Riku say to Kairi, "Of _course_ the lightning was from Sora, how come he got to learn magic? I had to forget all mine!"

Sora grinned to himself as he hurried home to change.

AN: Phew, my fingers hurt from typing now. Six pages handwritten takes a while to type up. I do have the second chapter started, it'll probably be up in a week or two, I have a lot on my plate at the moment, between papers, upcoming exams and other stuff. Let me know what you think!! Also, tell me if there are many grammar errors, I did my best to proofread, but its 5:30 in the morning, so who knows how reliable I am right now?


End file.
